THIS scene is the reason why she won her 3rd Oscar, and in my opinion her performance in this film isn't just her best, but probably the best performance by an actress on film. You can't get better than this, and what's brilliant about it is just how modern a performance it is for an actress of her time. And I think her grief for Spencer Tracy, who died just a year before, had a lot to do with it. She obviously had some sort of motivation to be able to express that sort of intensity and make it look so real. And it worked, obviously, because it's a work of brilliance.
Although Ms Hepburn is astonishing in this brilliant movie, I’d have to say Geraldine Page in “The Trip to Bountiful” is the greatest performance by an actress on film. I turn to mush about 15 minutes into that film, and her performance in the final 20 minutes makes me sob like a babe every time I watch it. Her acting in this is beyond sublime and astounding.
For me, it's between this scene and her morphine monologue in Long Days Journey. And that's not even mentioning Glass Menagerie or Suddenly Last Summer
this scene is perfect, I love the way she controls her face and her body language is just outstanding! the director was very smart showing her to the public and then her twisted reflection in the mirror! it's just fascinating to watch! my fave scene from the Lion in Winter for sure!
A masterpiece of a monologue from an amazing film, one of her greatest performances - the monologues and the duets with Peter O Toole are succulent, bliss, unbeatable.
I love this scene so much. Here is a Queen, wrestling with her own exile, her fading beauty, her ambition and need for revenge, but Hepburn also shows us the mother and the fleeting sentimentality she feels for her children; "They kissed sweetly didn't they?'. Just a masterful display.
Eleanor fooked herself over Henry was actually a pretty nice dude considering his mother was the one who was supposed to be queen he let his wife actually do shit and be powerful yet she turned his kids against him
Any criticism is misguided. Its probably the greatest screen performance by an actress in the history of cinema. And so was Peter O'Toole in the acting stakes. Absolutely robbed of the Oscar.
I agree both Peter as Henry and Kate as Eleanor deserved Oscars for their monologues, Peter's were powerfully delivered and heart rendering none more so, than in the scene with Peter on the ramparts of the castle,in the scene after severing his connection from his three sons. This a wonderfully well crafted movie the acting by all players was sublime and it drags you in from the very beginning. Peter o'toole RIP was probably the greatest actor who ever lived, in my eyes olivier had nothing on him he became a different person with every character he took on in Goodbye Mr Chips he was Chipping lost in his role, same in Lord Jim, TE Lawrence, Jack Gurney, my favourite of all his roles, in Peter Medack's Ruling Class, pulled everything out of him Burton himself an extremely talented actor could never have played most of the roles that Peter did he wouldn't have been a convincing General Tanze nor a Jack Gurney, that is what made Peter a special character actor, he made the movie world his theatre the only other actors similar today are Albert Finney and Ian Holm. As stated below both Kate and Peter were extraordinary actors they had the ability to act through their eyes the only other actors you saw this in were the late actors Vivien Leigh and Richard Harris. In my opinion Sir Ralph Richardson RIP and Sir Peter o'toole RIP were the greatest actors who ever lived.
Not misguided, truth,she sucked! O'Toole deserved that award way more than that shriveled old,one note acting hag ever did!..there were plenty of actresses at the time that were way better than her and could have pulled it t off more convincingly,she got the job because she was better connected!
This is my favorite scene from this movie. The dialog between Henry and Eleanor was absolutely brilliant. I love seeing a young Anthony Hopkins in this film as well.
Mia Farrow is right to say that her performance in this film is flawless, because it is. Particularly in this scene, with this monologue. What an excellent script with an excellent cast. Hepburn's best performance on film, next to The Philadelphia Story.
Spencer Tracy had places all over Hollywood where he would disappear to to do his binge drinking. He crashed his car in a neighborhood where Rock Hudson lived. Hudson tried to help him but Tracy pushed passed him and staggered for a bungalow he'd been renting. Hudson called Hepburn and told her she needed to get over there. She and Hudson forced their way into the bungalow's garage and found Tracy laying on a cot. Hudson called an ambulance and Hepburn held Tracy's hand then he slipped away. Hepburn used the role as Eleonore to vent her grief over Tracy's death. Those were real tears she shed throughout the film especially the scene where she crumbles and says "I want to die. Henry, I want to die!"
I adored her in Alice Adams & Guess Who's Coming To Dinner also but, you're right, this performance is her at her greatest. One of the best of all-time.
For me it's a toss up between this and Long Day's Journey into Night for her best performance. Followed by Alice Adams, The Philadelphia Story and Summertime.
It's delightful to imagine Katharine and Eleanor having a heart-to-heart in the hereafter. The greatest woman of the twelfth century, and one of the greatest of the twentieth -- both beautiful, both scarily intelligent, both supremely gifted in their respective fields, both one-half of a famous pair of lovers, and both living long enough to become legends. They would've had a great deal to talk about. "Spencer could be so difficult when he drank." "DRANK? My dear, you haven't lived until you and your children have led a civil war against the man in your life!" "I wouldn't know about that. I never had children." "Ah, you don't know what you missed. Half the time you're so proud of the battles they've won, and the other half they're trying to kill one another."
This entire movie sets the bar. Breathtaking performances from Hepburn and O'Toole and ably assisted by a terrific supporting cast. That O'Toole never won an Oscar for this is a travesty.
That Hepburn ‘tied’ with anybody for the best actress performance Oscar is ridiculous and to this day truly unbelievable. She once again defined the word ‘acting’.
I believe I read somewhere that the director had to plead with her to play this scene with her hair down. Can you imagine? It would've played completely differently and probably way less memorably.
we rode barebreasted. damn near died of windburn.....THE TROOPS WERE DAZZLED! i wonder, do you ever wonder: if i ever slept with your FATHER!" ..and it just goes on and on. like a ten round fight. this is my favorite movie. of all time. in any genre.
There is historical basis for this question. When she was Queen of France, Henry's father Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, came to the French King to do his obligatory obeisance, and she flirted with him openly.
@Helen Cooper It seems to me they can neither live with--or without--each other. Each must be the only person the other respects in their narrow world. That's love. Not as bad as Albee's Virginia Woolf, nor as pretty as Camelot--but real. Eleanor is the tragic character in this--that is why she has all the best lines.. It is she who has lost the most.
God she was beautiful in this scene it the whole movie really sutch a wonderful actress ..the only scene better than thins one was the scene werwe she talks about sleeping with henerys father
Don't feel so bad for the wretched old crone. She outlived her husband Henry and essentially ruled the country when her son Richard becomes king, as he was too busy on crusade killing Muslims and spearing the French king. Ran things under John as well, when he was smart enough to listen to her. It's after her death that John's rule went to pot.
This is probably one of movies ever made ranks up there with The Ten Commandments - Ben Hur - Gone with the Wind, etc Somebody Anybody upload more of this Great Classic like the Henry & Eleanor scene greatest one line of all time "I could peel you like a pear & GOD himself would call it justice"
@KilldozerRocks Its called poetic license and certainly doesn't affect the magnificent performances. I fancy Henry and Eleanor would have liked these portrayals of themselves (if not totally agree).
@windstorm1000 It's a joke. It's not a criticism. I love Katharine Hepburn, and I love this movie. It's just a slightly amusing note of Old Hollywood that you could get away with that, as well as the fact that Hepburn could never change her voice.
Had this film been made twenty years earlier, Olivier could have played Henry and either Joan Fontaine or Judith Anderson could have played Eleanor. Then, this could have been called "Lion in De Winter" haha. Bad joke, couldn't resist.
Literally just saw Rebecca for the first time last night, and would not have gotten the joke at all otherwise. Funny how stuff lines up unexpectedly sometimes. I know your comment was left in 2011 (when I was a tender 22 years old) but still just felt I had to reply lol
Kate makes great acting into an oxymoron. Kate never stops being Kate - being completely immersed, inside her character. It does not quite make sense. Its as though Eleanor or Tracy Lord, or Rose Sayer, or Mary Tyrone were actually prior 'pre'incarnations of this Hepburn woman. One cannot help but imagine that they must have stolen their character traits, their mannerism and unique voice from her.
Brian Turner Kate may have always had the same voice and yes she had a very strong personality , yet she was blessed with a very expressive face, Vivien Leigh was the best for reaction shots however Kate was a close second the woman was a marvel as an actor who once again had the additional talent of being able to express the storyline through her eyes, have you watched her role as Eleanor through the entire movie, I name this a beloved movie of mine I have known for well over twenty years and the acting in it is outstanding by all players especially Peter and Timothy Dalton, her Eleanor is sublime, nobody else could have played, at a push maybe Glenda Jackson, another underrated legend of an actor Katherine is dazzling in Love amongst the ruins, a beautiful portrayal of Mrs violet venables in Suddenly last Summer, as Amanda Wingfield in Tennesse's other masterpiece The Glass Menagerie as Rosie in The African Queen If you want an Oxymoron try the words Elizabeth Taylor and great actor in the same sentence.
@@jmiller05 I think what she got from Tracy was she should never completely discard her star persona for a role--it was more honest if she incorporated that into each performance--as did Tracy brilliantly. Like Tracy, Hepburn's best performances seem contemporary to us. Great actors still want to be like Kate.
This is the second version of this scene. First Takes were with Katharine Hepburn’s Hair Up! That is the scene that Kate Loved...But when Director Anthony Harvey ...Suggested to Kate to redo the same scene...But With Kate’s Hair Down...WTF? Kate would not hear of this...and bulked at the idea. Typical Kate..she cussed and bitched and moan. But soon after, Kate said Ok...One take only. She did the scene that is in the film, with her hair down. The next day after Katie had seen the Rushes, with that Hair Down Scene, later that night, Katharine slipped a small note underneath Director Anthony Harvey’s Bedroom Door...simply saying ...You Were Right!
@hammertapping Or you could playfully joke about unimportant nuances in otherwise great films and not have uptight jerks who think that you're criticizing the movie go ultra-defensive and act like it's their job to lash out at anyone who dares to notice tiniest and most insignificant bit of unintended humor.
She sucked,and damn near ruined the film for me! Thank God for O'Toole! Never understood the appeal of this woman she was terrible,and played the same character in just about everything she did..I believe if it wasn't for Spencer Tracy she would have vanished into obscurity !
THIS scene is the reason why she won her 3rd Oscar, and in my opinion her performance in this film isn't just her best, but probably the best performance by an actress on film. You can't get better than this, and what's brilliant about it is just how modern a performance it is for an actress of her time. And I think her grief for Spencer Tracy, who died just a year before, had a lot to do with it. She obviously had some sort of motivation to be able to express that sort of intensity and make it look so real. And it worked, obviously, because it's a work of brilliance.
I loved her in this film. I also thought Elizabeth Taylor in Virginia Wolff gave a blood and guts phenomenal performance.
Although Ms Hepburn is astonishing in this brilliant movie, I’d have to say Geraldine Page in “The Trip to Bountiful” is the greatest performance by an actress on film.
I turn to mush about 15 minutes into that film, and her performance in the final 20 minutes makes me sob like a babe every time I watch it. Her acting in this is beyond sublime and astounding.
For me, it's between this scene and her morphine monologue in Long Days Journey. And that's not even mentioning Glass Menagerie or Suddenly Last Summer
this is my favorite film of all time
she and he give the bets duet acting performances in screen history
what a lifes work
this scene is perfect, I love the way she controls her face and her body language is just outstanding! the director was very smart showing her to the public and then her twisted reflection in the mirror! it's just fascinating to watch! my fave scene from the Lion in Winter for sure!
A masterpiece of a monologue from an amazing film, one of her greatest performances - the monologues and the duets with Peter O Toole are succulent, bliss, unbeatable.
I love this scene so much. Here is a Queen, wrestling with her own exile, her fading beauty, her ambition and need for revenge, but Hepburn also shows us the mother and the fleeting sentimentality she feels for her children; "They kissed sweetly didn't they?'.
Just a masterful display.
I agree. But I always thought she ment her ex-husband kissing his very young mistress Alice...?
@@holgerschafer4583 Yes, that's exactly it. She had just been watching Henry and Alise kiss
Eleanor fooked herself over Henry was actually a pretty nice dude considering his mother was the one who was supposed to be queen he let his wife actually do shit and be powerful yet she turned his kids against him
Say whatever you want about the great performances and all, this movie's dialogue is just so ridiculously good.
This is one of my all time favorite film scenes, ever. She is just stunning, and the dialogue is exquisite.
Any criticism is misguided. Its probably the greatest screen performance by an actress in the history of cinema. And so was Peter O'Toole in the acting stakes. Absolutely robbed of the Oscar.
Not easy to make a monologue/soliloquy believable.
I agree both Peter as Henry and Kate as Eleanor deserved Oscars for their monologues, Peter's were powerfully delivered and heart rendering none more so, than in the scene with Peter on the ramparts of the castle,in the scene after severing his connection from his three sons.
This a wonderfully well crafted movie the acting by all players was sublime and it drags you in from the very beginning.
Peter o'toole RIP was probably the greatest actor who ever lived, in my eyes olivier had nothing on him he became a different person with every character he took on in Goodbye Mr Chips he was Chipping lost in his role, same in Lord Jim, TE Lawrence, Jack Gurney, my favourite of all his roles, in Peter Medack's Ruling Class, pulled everything out of him
Burton himself an extremely talented actor could never have played most of the roles that Peter did he wouldn't have been a convincing General Tanze nor a Jack Gurney, that is what made Peter a special character actor, he made the movie world his theatre the only other actors similar today are Albert Finney and Ian Holm.
As stated below
both Kate and Peter were extraordinary actors they had the ability to act through their eyes the only other actors you saw this in were the late actors Vivien Leigh and Richard Harris.
In my opinion Sir Ralph Richardson RIP and Sir Peter o'toole RIP were the greatest actors who ever lived.
two great performances ,she was awsome ,never out of my all time top twenty movies of my erea
Not misguided, truth,she sucked! O'Toole deserved that award way more than that shriveled old,one note acting hag ever did!..there were plenty of actresses at the time that were way better than her and could have pulled it t off more convincingly,she got the job because she was better connected!
What a powerful performance by one of the greatest, classic Hollywood Actresses! This makes me want to see this movie all the more!
This is my favorite scene from this movie. The dialog between Henry and Eleanor was absolutely brilliant. I love seeing a young Anthony Hopkins in this film as well.
Mia Farrow is right to say that her performance in this film is flawless, because it is. Particularly in this scene, with this monologue. What an excellent script with an excellent cast. Hepburn's best performance on film, next to The Philadelphia Story.
I think I'd agree with you on all counts there!
Spencer Tracy had places all over Hollywood where he would disappear to to do his binge drinking. He crashed his car in a neighborhood where Rock Hudson lived. Hudson tried to help him but Tracy pushed passed him and staggered for a bungalow he'd been renting. Hudson called Hepburn and told her she needed to get over there. She and Hudson forced their way into the bungalow's garage and found Tracy laying on a cot. Hudson called an ambulance and Hepburn held Tracy's hand then he slipped away. Hepburn used the role as Eleonore to vent her grief over Tracy's death. Those were real tears she shed throughout the film especially the scene where she crumbles and says "I want to die. Henry, I want to die!"
Not easy to make a monologue/soliloquy believable.
I adored her in Alice Adams & Guess Who's Coming To Dinner also but, you're right, this performance is her at her greatest. One of the best of all-time.
For me it's a toss up between this and Long Day's Journey into Night for her best performance.
Followed by Alice Adams, The Philadelphia Story and Summertime.
katharine hepburn and peter o tool are the best actors of all times for me!!!!!
A Master Class in acting by the greatest actress in Film History.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This mirror scene is one of the most powerful scenes ever. She's mesmerizing
My favorite Christmas movie.
One of the best monologues ever, and one of the best performances ever on screen.
'I can't. I'd turn to salt.'
Such a subtle but brilliant line. I wonder if many people get it these days?
I don't get the line so I'd appreciate an explanation of it. 🙂
@@errolpletcher9186 The Book of Genesis describes how Lot's wife became a pillar of salt after she looked back at Sodom.
It's delightful to imagine Katharine and Eleanor having a heart-to-heart in the hereafter. The greatest woman of the twelfth century, and one of the greatest of the twentieth -- both beautiful, both scarily intelligent, both supremely gifted in their respective fields, both one-half of a famous pair of lovers, and both living long enough to become legends. They would've had a great deal to talk about. "Spencer could be so difficult when he drank." "DRANK? My dear, you haven't lived until you and your children have led a civil war against the man in your life!" "I wouldn't know about that. I never had children." "Ah, you don't know what you missed. Half the time you're so proud of the battles they've won, and the other half they're trying to kill one another."
And in the end, Eleanor ended up winning by simply outliving everyone but John, the Fredo of the bunch.
To be fair, John was a menopause baby. It was bound to affect him.
This entire movie sets the bar. Breathtaking performances from Hepburn and O'Toole and ably assisted by a terrific supporting cast. That O'Toole never won an Oscar for this is a travesty.
That Hepburn ‘tied’ with anybody for the best actress performance Oscar is ridiculous and to this day truly unbelievable. She once again defined the word ‘acting’.
This breaks my heart every time I watch it.
A great monologue
A legend, an icon, a singular individual without equal.
I love her with her hair down. It makes her look 20 years younger, I wish she would have done more pictures with it down.
I believe I read somewhere that the director had to plead with her to play this scene with her hair down. Can you imagine? It would've played completely differently and probably way less memorably.
Brilliant actress.
How will any other actress even come close to Hepburn in the future? What an amazing genius she will have to be to withstand any comparison to Kate
we rode barebreasted. damn near died of windburn.....THE TROOPS WERE DAZZLED!
i wonder, do you ever wonder: if i ever slept with your FATHER!"
..and it just goes on and on. like a ten round fight. this is my favorite movie. of all time. in any genre.
There is historical basis for this question. When she was Queen of France, Henry's father Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, came to the French King to do his obligatory obeisance, and she flirted with him openly.
acting at its finest. incomparable & irreplaceable. an actor's benchmark.
He married out of love, a woman out of legend. Not in Alexandria, or Rome, or Camelot has there been such a queen.
@Helen Cooper It seems to me they can neither live with--or without--each other. Each must be the only person the other respects in their narrow world. That's love. Not as bad as Albee's Virginia Woolf, nor as pretty as Camelot--but real. Eleanor is the tragic character in this--that is why she has all the best lines.. It is she who has lost the most.
Magnificent... more raw emotion, sorrow and grief
The whole movie. She was magnificent.
Loved that Venice was the third star of the movie😊
Katharine was amazing actress and she was still really pretty at that time.
@CharmingSage Yes. O Toole should have won for Lion in Winter and The Ruling Class
What a desolation... and what an actress. How superb a lady!
My husband always says, “Die Hard” when asked what his favorite Christmas movie is. I always say, “My favorite Christmas movie is The Lion in Winter”.
God she was beautiful in this scene it the whole movie really
sutch a wonderful actress ..the only scene better than thins one was the scene werwe she talks about sleeping with henerys father
It doesn't get better than this.
@grai Her name is Meryl Streep
Only she can pull this off and make it believable.
gad is she superb.
She is an amazing actress but she was born in 1907, thus 61 years of age. Despite that she looks good.
Don't feel so bad for the wretched old crone. She outlived her husband Henry and essentially ruled the country when her son Richard becomes king, as he was too busy on crusade killing Muslims and spearing the French king. Ran things under John as well, when he was smart enough to listen to her. It's after her death that John's rule went to pot.
This is probably one of movies ever made ranks up there with The Ten Commandments - Ben Hur - Gone with the Wind, etc
Somebody Anybody upload more of this Great Classic like the Henry & Eleanor scene greatest one line of all time "I could peel you like a pear & GOD himself would call it justice"
I had no idea that Brits during the Dark Ages spoke with New England accents. It's amazing they could have such great foresight.
And in Elizabethan/Shakespearean times people in "Julius Caesar" spoke in the Shakespearean English of the time, not Latin.
@KilldozerRocks Its called poetic license and certainly doesn't affect the magnificent performances. I fancy Henry and Eleanor would have liked these portrayals of themselves (if not totally agree).
@windstorm1000 It's a joke. It's not a criticism. I love Katharine Hepburn, and I love this movie. It's just a slightly amusing note of Old Hollywood that you could get away with that, as well as the fact that Hepburn could never change her voice.
John Barry score is perfect here.
@december2364
tht otoole never won one for his 8 nominations is just terrible
hes definately on the top 10 actors of all time
@KilldozerRocks good choice! if you can think, run from where i am! otherwise you will land on your hat.
THIS IS THEATHER !!
Had this film been made twenty years earlier, Olivier could have played Henry and either Joan Fontaine or Judith Anderson could have played Eleanor. Then, this could have been called "Lion in De Winter" haha. Bad joke, couldn't resist.
Literally just saw Rebecca for the first time last night, and would not have gotten the joke at all otherwise. Funny how stuff lines up unexpectedly sometimes. I know your comment was left in 2011 (when I was a tender 22 years old) but still just felt I had to reply lol
Kate makes great acting into an oxymoron. Kate never stops being Kate - being completely immersed, inside her character. It does not quite make sense. Its as though Eleanor or Tracy Lord, or Rose Sayer, or Mary Tyrone were actually prior 'pre'incarnations of this Hepburn woman. One cannot help but imagine that they must have stolen their character traits, their mannerism and unique voice from her.
Brian Turner Kate may have always had the same voice and yes she had a very strong personality , yet she was blessed with a very expressive face, Vivien Leigh was the best for reaction shots however Kate was a close second the woman was a marvel as an actor who once again had the additional talent of being able to express the storyline through her eyes, have you watched her role as Eleanor through the entire
movie, I name this a beloved movie of mine I have known for well over twenty years and the acting in it is outstanding by all players especially Peter and Timothy Dalton, her Eleanor is sublime, nobody else could have played, at a push maybe Glenda Jackson, another underrated legend of an actor Katherine is dazzling in Love amongst the ruins, a beautiful portrayal of Mrs violet venables in Suddenly last Summer, as Amanda Wingfield in Tennesse's other masterpiece The Glass Menagerie as Rosie in The African Queen
If you want an Oxymoron try the words Elizabeth Taylor and great actor in the same sentence.
I think this was the essence of Hepburn's genius. She was overpoweringly herself, yet her persona somehow tapped into an authenticity of character.
@@jmiller05 I think what she got from Tracy was she should never completely discard her star persona for a role--it was more honest if she incorporated that into each performance--as did Tracy brilliantly. Like Tracy, Hepburn's best performances seem contemporary to us. Great actors still want to be like Kate.
@hammertapping I'd rather not, I'm busy watching Bringing Up Baby.
With apologies to O’Toole and the rest of the cast, this was Eleanor’s story and Ms. Hepburn was masterful.
Over acting hack! never understood the appeal of that woman. utter garbage in just about everything she was in! O'Toole on the other hand, brilliant!
Hepburn's performance is impeccable, but what always annoys me is how light the crown seems. It's so obvious it's made of some sort of cheap material.
lol funny you mention that, I had that same feeling a couple times during this film when crowns were in the scene. Awesome film though.
Not easy to make a monologue/soliloquy believable.
Alysanne Targaryen
This is the second version of this scene. First Takes were with Katharine Hepburn’s Hair Up! That is the scene that Kate Loved...But when Director Anthony Harvey ...Suggested to Kate to redo the same scene...But With Kate’s Hair Down...WTF? Kate would not hear of this...and bulked at the idea. Typical Kate..she cussed and bitched and moan. But soon after, Kate said Ok...One take only. She did the scene that is in the film, with her hair down. The next day after Katie had seen the Rushes, with that Hair Down Scene, later that night, Katharine slipped a small note underneath Director Anthony Harvey’s Bedroom Door...simply saying ...You Were Right!
@hammertapping Or you could playfully joke about unimportant nuances in otherwise great films and not have uptight jerks who think that you're criticizing the movie go ultra-defensive and act like it's their job to lash out at anyone who dares to notice tiniest and most insignificant bit of unintended humor.
We need an Audrey Hepburn for this age, too balance out all of the shitty remakes and just plain terrible movies.
Sol Empire you mean Katharine Hepburn, right?
@@novocaineboy1979 both Audrey and Katherine were lovely in their own way.
She sucked,and damn near ruined the film for me! Thank God for O'Toole!
Never understood the appeal of this woman she was terrible,and played the same character in just about everything she did..I believe if it wasn't for Spencer Tracy she would have vanished into obscurity !
One of the most over rated actresses in the history of the silver screen.